Bingham Represents at Junior Day

Brandon Gurney

06/04/2010

BYU is loaded with commits from Bingham High School, and all of them attended BYU's Junior Day along with more than 200 other prime prospects. It was an opportunity for commits to work out with BYU coaches and learn more about the school, and for players such as Kesni Tausinga, it was also a chance to go against some of the best regional talent and represent their school.

"It was awesome," said Kesni Tausinga, who committed to BYU this past spring. "I loved everything we did today. I love BYU and I love being there with the coaches and feeling the great atmosphere that is there. It was also great going against so many great players. I loved everything about today."

Tausinga is a 6-foot, 260-pound defensive line prospect who attended Junior Day with teammates such as Manoa Pikula, Baker Pritchard, Moses Kaumatule, Harvey Langi, Seni Fauonuku and Bridger Peck. For him and his teammates, it's always important to represent well for Bingham, and he felt that they did exactly that.

"Whenever we go out and in no matter what we do, we always want to show our best, so we all went at it really hard today," said Tausinga. "We all like to get by each other in line during drills and stay together. We're real close as teammates."

Junior Day began with the players meeting in the conference room, where they began with an opening prayer that was followed by highlights and a very informative speech by head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

"Coach Mendenhall just laid it out for everyone like he always does," informed Tausinga. "He let everyone know what type of school BYU is, what's expected of them and how it's not just about football. The guys there that are just interested in football, well, they're probably not going to make it at BYU, so he wanted to make sure they all knew that."

They then listened to some other coaches before taking the practice field to go through agility drills with Cougar trainer Jay Omer and then separating for what Tausinga described as the best part of Junior Day.

"We went into position groups and then did one-on-one drills, which was my favorite part of the day," he said. "I went with Coach Kaufusi, who I just love. Everything about him is perfect for me. I love how he doesn't yell and is just laid back and calm with you. He works with his players very well and you learn a lot because of it. I love all of the coaches at BYU, but he's my favorite by far. I can't wait to play for him."

During one-on-one drills Tausinga was able to go against a lot of good talent including fellow Cougar commit Lui Lapuaho from Hunter High School, Timpview's Kalvin Cusick, and some prospects clear from Kahuku that Tausinga was very impressed with.

"Those were probably the best guys I went against for sure," he said. "We really talked a lot with the Kahuku players and they had a left tackle there who was easily one of the best I went up against in drills. We're real excited to play them this year, so it was cool that we got along so well."

Following the workouts, the prospects ate and then a select few were able to take an even closer look at BYU by going on tours of the campus.

"I met Austin Collie's little brother [Dylan] on the tour and he's a real cool guy. He's really good too and I could see BYU offering him soon," he informed. "Austen Heder went on the tour with us and Bryson McKenzie, Moses [Kaumatule], Manoa [Pikula] and Bridger Peck. Harvey [Langi] didn't go because he had to leave early for a family thing, but I know he liked being there."

During his time at Junior Day, Tausinga was able to spend time with another Harvey who knows a lot about BYU's program.

"Harvey Unga is my cousin and it was great seeing him there and talking to him," Tausinga said. "He's a great guy and has always had good things to say about the program. He's one of the reasons why I chose to commit to BYU."

The main reason Tausinga chose BYU, however, is because of the coaching staff and the overall atmosphere of the program and school.

"Everything I knew about BYU was confirmed today," he summed up. "I love the coaching staff, the players and the environment. It's the perfect school for me and I can't wait to get there to learn from Coach Kaufusi and the others and get a good education."

Notes

-Cougar signee Algernon Brown and his father attended Junior Day, as they were down at BYU to fill out the final paperwork to enter the school and football program for fall semester. In living relatively close to Provo, Algernon will begin workouts on Monday with the team.

-Austen Jorgensen was in attendance watching his younger brother Colby, who has received a lot of attention from the Cougar coaching staff. Colby is a 6-foot-7-inch, 230-pound prospect who is very similar to Matt Putnam athletically. Austen is engaged to be married later this month.

-Other notables that were in attendance included Ryker Mathews from American Fork, Troy Hinds and Gavin Fowler from Davis High School, Mountain Crest's Alex Kuresa, and many others who we'll be attempting to track down in the coming days.